New Leadership Nominees Named at ASME Annual Meeting
New Leadership Nominees Named at ASME Annual Meeting
June 30, 2017
ASME Honorary Member and Fellow Said Jahanmir, Ph.D., was named president-nominee of ASME earlier this month at the Society’s 2017 Annual Meeting in Newport Beach, Calif. The ASME Nominating Committee, which announced Jahanmir’s selection during the President’s Dinner on June 13, also named three new members of the Board of Governors, who will each will begin their three-year terms next June.
Dr. Jahanmir, who will serve as ASME’s 137th president in 2018-2019, is president and chief executive officer of the engineering consulting firm Boston Tribology Associates in Cambridge, Mass. Since September 2015, he has been serving as Senior Legislative Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives through the ASME Federal Government Fellowship Program, providing advice to Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) on manufacturing, science and technology policy, STEM education, and workforce development. Jahanmir had previously served as president and CEO of MiTiHeart Corp. of Albany, N.Y., and as vice president of its parent company, Mohawk Innovative Technology Inc., guiding R&D efforts involving implantable blood pumps, high-temperature coatings, high-speed micro-machining, and high-speed oil-free-compressors.
From 1987 to 2002, Jahanmir served in several positions at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), including leader of the Ceramic Manufacturing Group. He was also the inaugural director of the Tribology Program at the National Science Foundation from 1985 to 1987, senior research engineer at Exxon Research and Engineering Co. from 1980 to 1985, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Cornell University from 1977 to 1980, a lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley from 1976 to 1977, and an instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1975 to 1976.
A member of ASME since 1985 and a current member of the Committee on Finance and Investment, Jahanmir has been a dedicated ASME volunteer, serving in a variety of capacities within the Society, including member of the Board of Governors, chair of the Tribology Division, chair of the Board on Research and Technology Development, vice president for Research, and chair of the International Congress Committee. He has been the recipient of a number of prestigious Society Awards, including ASME Honorary Membership in 2013, the Tribology Division’s Donald Wilcock Distinguished Service Award in 2009, the Mayo D. Hersey Award in 2001, and the ASME Dedicated Service Award in 1995.
The ASME Nominating Committee also announced the three new members of the Board of Governors during the President’s Dinner. The three nominees will each serve a three-year term, from 2018 to 2021, once their nominations are ratified by ASME membership via an online ballot this fall.
One of the three BOG member nominees, Joe R. Fowler, Ph.D., P.E., is the former president and co-founder of the Houston-based engineering consulting firm Stress Engineering Services Inc. An ASME Life Fellow, Dr. Fowler served ASME in a number of positions during his nearly 50 years as a Society member, including chair of the Petroleum Division from 1997 to 1998, vice chair of the Petroleum Division from 1995 to 1997, member of the Committee on Member Interests from 1999 to 2002, member of the Long Range Planning Committee from 1999 to 2000, member of the Continuing Education Committee from 1996 to 1997, and member of the Committee on Engineering Education from 1993 to 1995. The president of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) in 2000-2001, he served as an ASME representative to ABET from 1994 to 2000. He received the ASME Dedicated Service Award in 1994.
Michael F. Molnar, P.E., was also selected as a nominee for the Board of Governors. Molnar, an ASME Fellow, is the founding director of the Office of Advanced Manufacturing at NIST and the founding director of the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office, an interagency team working to coordinate federal activities in advanced manufacturing. Molnar, who was an ASME Federal Government Fellow in 2003-2004, served as chair of the Board on Division Support from 2009 to 2010, leader of the Group Operating Board from 2008 to 2011, chair of the Manufacturing Engineering Division from 2005 to 2008, chair of the Student Design Competition from 2005 to 2006, and vice president of ASME’s Central Region from 1998 to 2002. He also held a variety of posts within the Central Indiana Section. He received the M. Eugene Merchant Manufacturing Medal of ASME/SME in 2017 and the Dedicated Service Award in 2008.
The third BOG nominee, ASME Fellow Karen A. Thole, Ph.D., is professor and department head of mechanical and nuclear engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. A current member of the Energy Conversion and Storage Segment of ASME, Dr. Thole is also a member of the R. Tom Sawyer Award Committee, the Energy Conversion and Storage Segment, the Gas Turbine Segment, and the Heat Transfer Committee. In addition, she served as leader of the Energy Conversion Storage Segment from 2014 to 2015, chair of the International Gas Turbine Institute (IGTI) from 2013 to 2014, chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department Heads Committee from 2012 to 2014, and chair of the Committee on Honors from 2011 to 2014, among other positions. She received the Edwin F. Church Medal in 2016, the George Westinghouse Medal in 2015, the Dedicated Service Award in 2015, and IGTI Best Paper Awards in 2005 and 2009.
In other leadership news, Samuel J. Korellis, P.E., will begin his three-year term as senior vice president for Standards & Certification on July 1. Korellis, a principal technical leader at the Electrical Power Research Institute, is a Fellow of ASME and has held a number of leadership roles in the Society, including vice president of the Council on Codes and Standards and chair of the Council on Standards and Certification, the Board on Strategic Initiatives, the ASME Energy and Environmental Standards Advisory Board, the Board on Codes and Standards Operations, and the Board on Performance Test Codes, in addition to serving on numerous other boards and technical committees. He received the ASME Dedicated Service Award in 2006 and the Performance Test Codes Medal in 2005.
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